Flowers from a lover [rewrite]

5.0

Lucas was sitting at his computer, finishing work up as he had been too caught up talking to Leo to remember doing so. Every time he opened his computer, he always had to resist the urge to search google endlessly for Leo, but his promise not to go looking for him was more important than his curiosity. He was rushing his project, waiting for the phone to ring. This had become a daily thing, procrastinating then laying in his bed with the phone next to him waiting for a call from a boy he's never met in person. The magic and impossibility of the whole thing had passed. His interest in Leo and his life had made him forget how absurd the whole thing had sounded. It made him forget how far away in time Leo was.

Maybe it was the fact that he had been lonely. His family had been back in England, and he had lived alone for the past 6 years, only having one or two friends who he had not even talked to in months each. Sometimes when you are lonely, you cling to the one person who makes you feel like you have everybody in the world. For Lucas , that was Leo. Leo asked him things that no one had ever bothered to ask. From simple things like how his day was, to unique questions such as what he would take with him if he had 60 seconds to gather things into a bomb shelter. He didn't know the last time someone had ever been that interested in him and what he had to say. He couldn't remember when he had last heard himself talk about things that he actually liked to talk about.

So yes, despite the time difference (no kidding), there was a connection there that mattered to him, the first connection he had had in a while. As he submit his day's work of coding, he absentmindedly walked over to the wall. He didn't know how many times he looked at it a day. From the "Hi" in the corner of the room, to the two hand prints made with the same paint at different times, knowing there was something to prove the boy he was talking to existed made him feel calm when his world felt like crumbling. The photo of Leo lay on his desk, his smile permanently captured onto a piece of film that had survived fifty years under the dirt. Furthermore presenting the fact that Leo was real.

So, as he clutched the phone in his hand still vaguely stained with paint, waiting for a call, he did not see it as wasting time. He saw it as an opportunity to finally speak to someone who cares about him. Just on time, the phone started ringing and he picked up quickly. "So you saw the photo?" Leo had wasted no time in asking. Lucas glanced to the corner of the room on the desk it lay on, "Yes, I did. That's you, right?" "Yes." Leo sighed as he seemingly slumped down onto a chair, "My friend Dan took it. The cat is my cat Patches." "When you called this phone, it's because you thought it was Dan, right?" Lucas questioned curiously.

"Yeah. This is his number." Leo answered, "He doesn't know I talk to you, though. I think he'd see me as crazy." Lucas chuckled, "You're already crazy." "Thank you, thank you." Leo gave short laughs, "So I thought about the science of it all." He said after he had gathered himself. Lucas raised his eyebrow, "The science? Is this even science? This is straight sci-fi magic." Lucas said, half-jokingly. "Well yes, but if all our experiments with the time capsule and the paint worked out, it means that I do exist in your so called 'timeline' and I'm somewhere out there in your world existing as a poor old man," Leo began. "Go on." Lucas was intrigued.

"That should mean that before our first phone call, I never knew you existed yet, but after we started talking, I think we started modifying the memories of the Leo in your time and adding in events that we create." "So," Lucas began, "why hasn't old you ever visited me yet?" "Like I said, I could be dead, or gotten Alzheimer's, or just refuse to see you for a reason I do not know yet." Leo suggested. "Why don't you let me look you up on the internet, then?" Lucas asked. Leo knew about the internet as Lucas had spent hours trying to explain the concept of it to him.

"I just," Leo struggled, "I don't know. I guess I like the idea that we're talking as if this whole 50 year gap doesn't exist. It's weird to think that now I'm an old man in your time, and that we're so far apart from each other. You finding out about old me just proves that this friendship would never be a normal one." Leo had done his best to explain. "I understand and feel the same way." Lucas said quietly. "Thank you. Also, thank you for keeping your promise."

"Of course, anytime." Lucas smiled and looked at the clock, "I should sleep. It's late and I have a meeting with some colleagues early in the morning tomorrow." "Have fun with that." Leo chuckled, "Goodnight, wrong number." "Goodnight old man." Lucas joked. "I'm not even-" "-old yet, yeah yeah. Sleep well, Leo." Lucas finished.